Penumbra
by Tamuril Telrunye
Summary: It began in somewhere in the Midwest, in a mansion- but before that there was the training facility. What horrors await the unprepared? She was just a normal everyday person, dragged into something beyond her league- and the shadows of the Unbrella corporation are deep indeed. (Oc's and shiz as per my normal bread and butter.)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the first in a long series of resident evil fanfics involving the same OC as well as many of the main characters. It follows the storyline of the first game chronologically speaking, so that would be Resident Evil 0. As a side note, does anyone else realize how difficult it is too remember what kind of tech was available in 1998? It took me a bit of researching, I mean I was a kid at the time, man have things changed. This is being written kind of in honor of seven, I haven't seen any of it myself- I blame Markiplier because he dragged me in via his Lets Play.

* * *

Penumbra

By Tamuril Telrunye A.K.A Sunspice

* * *

My heart was pounding frantically in my chest as I raced down the well kept pathway, tripping a bit on a loose stone struggling to follow Ella down the trail. I wasn't use to running in the taller hiking boots that I wore, which I was regretting greatly. This was wrong, all so horribly wrong, and getting worse by the second; the day we headed out seemed to be so normal! But it became this nightmare, and suddenly I was racing along this trail at a dangerous speed- dangerous not only because an injury while hiking could be life threatening, but because this trail led along a steep ridge and was generally avoided for that reason. My step hitched as a stitch in my side made it harder to draw breath, and I finally lost sight of my friends dirty blond hair whipping down the trail- stumbling I called out.

"Ella! Wait up! ELL!"

I was far from ready for a marathon, college students as a whole didn't do a lot of strenuous exercise, and our version of hiking was really the lazy waddling through the forest kind. To top that off I had a heavy pack on my back, which despite its well balanced contents was being suddenly just that much more unwieldy. My left foot caught on a loose stone making me do a strangely unbalanced pinwheel on the dirt of the path before the weight of my pack overtook me, my hands colliding with the dirt and sliding as I ended up going down hard over the edge of a rather steep hill. I fought to cover my face as I spun- so much like I had when I would roll down hills as a child tumbling over and over, then nothing.

* * *

When I came to the world was much darker then I remembered it to be initially, and with my consciousness came a heavy pulse at my temple- things aren't suppose to spin when you're laying down right? It took me a moment decipher which way was up, even as my hand slowly made it towards my head- but I managed eventually climbing to my feet with all the grace of a drunken monkey, as my fingers worked their way through my short red hair reaching and finding a large bump just above my ear. It hurt to touch, and I felt myself reel as bit after I did so. I settled down again on my rump in the undergrowth, ignoring the soft dirt, prodding branches and moss for once instead trying to get the world to stop spinning. My pack- half way between a day pack and an overnight pack sat like a lump on my back, straps pulling on my sore shoulders as I sat. The clip for the waist strap dug into my middle as I hid my face in my knees, and for a long moment I did nothing.

Eventually the dizzying motion of the world around me slowed and stopped, and I took a moment to pull my water bottle from the pocket I kept it in on my bag, drinking a mouthful before using a bit of it to try and clean away the dirt clotted in my hair around the bump- there was more than a bump there of course, and as I washed away the clingy grit around it I felt warm wet blood leaky slightly from it. Head wounds as a rule- big or small were no fun, they bled like crazy and could be fatal in several ways. But this only seemed to be a surface cut, and not say a broken skull like a friend of mine had when we were kids.

It was after this that I started to take stock of the world around me- It was dark, and the forest was quiet unnaturally so some might say. I mean, there weren't many animals that are nocturnal- But I was still able to hear the bats that came to roost in these hills in the warmer months on a normal night. But there was nothing- No bats, no coyotes, nothing and I mean it when I say that it was really weird that there weren't any coyotes. Killing off the natural wolf population meant that there were A LOT of coyotes, and sometimes they could become problematically aggressive.

I felt around my belt for my small flashlight, as I propped myself up on a tree- I still had it thankfully and it wasn't broken, and the beam of my maglight cut through the stifling darkness of the warm night. I was apparently at the bottom of the hill, I'd come to rest rather painfully against the tree that I was currently propping myself against, and Ella was nowhere to be seen. Nor in fact was the trail. I passed my flashlight over the hill, and it could have been the darkness but nothing even looked vaguely familiar.

The hill itself was steep enough that I couldn't honestly tell where the trail was, and I was certain I couldn't climb it in the dark without losing my footing and ending up right back where I started. I moved to look around, but had to stop as the world around me seemed to weave and bob- and my stomach began to weigh in on the subject as I felt my diaphragm hitch painfully. I had no idea how long I'd been out, and my stomach was keen to remind me that it was empty as I dry heaved. It shouldn't be possible for a stomach to be hungry after vomit, because it was almost worse than the concussion I was sure I had.

It was hard to focus on what I should do, hard to make myself want to focus with the headache I had, but I needed to get out of here. If I didn't do something, it was very likely I would die. People got lost in the woods all the time, and they were never found; and with whatever attacked Ben, well there was no guarantee that people would know to look until it was too late. But, I had my pack and my waist pack- these things had items essential for surviving. I should be able to find a trail and get out, even the best hikers carried a map of the area. I pulled it out of the pocket I kept all of my flat items in, moving slowly towards a large rock nearby to sit down. I didn't like the constant sway and dip that the earth seemed to make as I did so, but there was very little I could do about it. Save perhaps hope that my concussion wasn't a bad one- it took awhile to find my location on the map, even with a compass and the knowledge of where the trail was suppose to be.

The thing that attacked Ben- it looked vaguely like a dog, if dogs shed their skin- whatever it was attacked us at a fork in the trail. We had been meaning to take the other path, but panic made Ella run- blindly now I am guessing and I'd followed. I stopped looking at the map for a moment, eye unfocusing- The sickly sweet smell of something rotting in the warm weather hit my nose as I looked up from the trail, Ben was leading- he was always leading because he had longer legs. One more trail, another day and we would be home. Thank god for that, I loved my friends but I wanted to be back with my fiance cuddled up watching a movie- maybe a scary one so I could make excuses about using him as a human pillow. A noise caught my attention pulling me from my tired musing, and Ben stopping suddenly making me look up again. Red flesh, torn skin, something that for a moment looked like it might be out of a horror movie.

"Hoooly shit." Ben said quietly as we all stop and held very still, none of us had a clue what it was- deep red flesh balanced on four bony legs, its head down as it tugged at the throat of what was once a deer I was sure none of us really wanted to know, all we knew was that it was definitely predatory. The tall dark haired man in front of us made a motion with his hand- and we slowly began to back away as the thing tore a chunk of flesh from the deer with one final pull, making an indescribable sound. One step, two, and then a scuff as Ella's boot caught on something…

I shook myself out of that thought, pushing the memory away; I had to focus, I was- I was on the Mountain Rail trail? I was certain of it, hikers had weird senses of humor and generally they named the trails. It was longer than the other trail, looping along the barrier of the national park that was shared with some of Umbrella's corporate lands- they kept it for future development, or something like that in case they needed to expand. That and it was rumored that they had a corporate retreat somewhere among the trees with five star service- although there was nothing to prove it.

I was it seemed just off what I thought was Deleo's wall- a portion of the trail that was noticeably different in elevation than the rest of it, translation being the big damn hill i'd had the honor of skidding down. If so, it was a good couple of miles before I would even be able to reach the trail, and even then it was only slightly more likely than where I was. There was a second option however, the map showed a well maintained rail line that went through the Arkay mountains- it cut through the mountain range and was relatively easy going if I could follow it. A little bit longer then the trail we intended to take, but it would get me to Raccoon city. Without Ella or Ben I was in a hard spot, because their car was parked at the end of the trail and without the keys I wouldn't get anywhere. Maybe there would be a ranger at the station, and then again with budget cuts maybe there wouldn't be.

I took a moment to sip some water, and eat a protein bar- not the greatest cuisine, but it would keep me going. If I could keep it down, walking with a concussion at all would be a challenge, my sense of balance was shot- one of my knees was giving me grief for what reason I didn't know and I ached in a thousand places from the biting stings of scraped skin, and bruised flesh. I'd probably injured my knee on my way down, but it wasn't broken so I would have to cope. I managed to scavenge a branch to walk with, it helped a little bit at least and I set out heading south towards the train tracks. We'd already crossed them once in our journey, walking over a well worn wooden bridge to get from one side of a steep canyon to another. The tracks used the local geography to its advantage, only cutting through the mountains in a few places because of the high risk of avalanche in winter months.

Without a trail it was really tough going, granted the woods were old enough that in most places the ground cover was non-existent, but from time to time I would happen upon the occasional clearing. Game trails were a good way to get through however, but I had to stop and check my compass more than once. I definitely ended up waddling around the same three trees at one point, it was hard to not be confused. I wasn't sure how long it took me to find the train tracks, but I'd never been so happy to see a set of metal rails before in my life- I'll admit to that much. For about five minutes I just sat on the old worn gravel that surrounded the tracks, catching my breath- so to speak.

The moon was well overhead sitting lazily in the sky as it did sometimes, half full and unhindered by clouds in the summer sky- out beyond the trees I almost didn't need a flashlight, and I clicked mine off to conserve the battery as I sat there listening. Again I heard nothing but the gentle sound of leaves on the wind, and I found it more then a bit unnerving. I remembered as a kid hearing the voice of thousands of crickets chirping on night like this, filling the darkness with so many sounds that I could barely sleep for all the noise.

Pushing myself up I used the branch to stabilize my footing on the uneven gravel under me as I followed the tracks towards civilization. I had a long walk ahead of me, and I was not in great shape, but I wasn't going to let that stop me for anything- I was however going to keep an eye out for trains, for obvious reasons. I might not be able to flag them down, but if I caught the conductors attention with my flashlight maybe he would send someone to tell me to piss off. It wasn't the polite way to ask for help, but it was easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission- or something like that.

It was lonely walking at night, and I felt a gripping dread as I tried not to think about Ben and Ella- I hoped they were out there, maybe getting a park ranger to call for help. Maybe trying to find me; I dreaded Red's reaction when he found out, my fiance could be a bit overprotective of me sometimes and I didn't want him to worry about me. Not yet, I could handle this- but worrying about someone else's reaction was stupid anyways, I would have to deal with it when I got back to civilization, and I would get back. Not a willful wish, or a determined cry- a solid truth, because I didn't have time for bullshit maybe when I was in the middle of doing something. They say you never really know when your life is about to take that sudden turn; when something sidelines you out of the blue and you find yourself grasping for something, it's just a shame I didn't think of that until after the red/black four legged thing stepped out of the bushes from the side of the train tracks like a nightmare melting out of the shadows.

It the back of my mind there was a line of thought that was calm and collected and it went something like 'Oh it kind of looks like a dog' but it was overpowered by the sudden stark realization that I was on my own, in the dark with something moving towards me. It was growling low, and I thought perhaps it might have been an oversized coyote with mange or something, before I turned faster than I'd ever turned in my life and sprinted back along the tracks, injured knee forgotten as I moved to run on the track themselves.

I could hear the crunch of gravel behind me as the thing chased me, and I wished there was a way I could more easily ditch the extra weight of my pack- but the straps meant it would take more time then I could afford to lose. I stumbled briefly as my hiking boots caught on the edge of a rail tie and I only barely saved myself from biffing it again on the nasty gravel, and this only because the stick I'd been carrying was liberally used. But the running steps behind me were much closer, and I didn't dare take a chance to look over my shoulder.

My bad leg caught on another odd rail tie and I stumbled, and let out a shriek as the thing latched onto my foot teeth sliding on my thick hiking boot and shaking the offending leg much like a dog would. This was rewarded with a very hard smack from my walking stick, making the thing yelp and I pushed myself back to my feet from my half fallen position to run again dropping the stick in the process. A turn in the track rewarded me with the view of the track itself branching, and my mind already working overtime with the injury and pursuing creature didn't really have it in my to pick a direction, all I could do really was run down one of the paths and hope that it led somewhere that wasn't Certain Death.

I couldn't hear the thing behind me anymore, but that didn't mean I was going to stop running- that didn't mean I could, at this rate I was going to run until my heart gave out like some poor frightened rabbit. And then there was something, not the something I was hoping for- certainly no park ranger with a rifle ready to kill something or even a secret army installation setup that would shoot the thing and magically recognize me as human, no light at the end of the tunnel here- only a tunnel. That was it, I threw a wild look over my shoulder which rewarded me with nothing but a weird view of my pack and I slowed to a walk to get a decent look behind me.

Nothing, nothing as far as I could see- but that didn't mean it would stay that way, I'd probably stunned the thing with my blow or something, which meant I should probably get a move on while my I had a chance. But therein was the problem, I could try and cut through the brush- which I felt was not advisable all things considered, and then because I knew taking my time would not be to my benefit and grabbed my flashlight and clicked it on.

Damned if I did, and damned if I didn't.

* * *

Somewhere below Raccoon City-

The blond man ran a hand through his hair as he waited in an empty elevator descending slowly towards his destination; he shouldn't be here, he shouldn't need to be here. This was a situation that had been taken care of years ago, or so he thought. But power plays and changes in the structure of the company made many people think things were better ideas then they might actually turn out to be; they should have considered this, but high as they were on their own young prowess He and Albert hadn't been as thorough as they might have been with more experience.

Reopening the Training Facility had been the idea of new blood in the company, and neither of the blond men, nor those who had been with Umbrella long before it was the monolith it was now approved of someone snooping where they didn't belong- snooping as it were, was what Umbrella recruits did best. William Birkin didn't like to delve into the politics of the company, not as Wesker did- he had his legacy and his family to think of now. He couldn't afford to become embroiled in them now, not when he was getting so close.

The lift stopped and the doors slid open to a long dimly lit corridor as he stepped out moving down the passage without pause; if they'd been given the time that Umbrella promised, then they might have been able to destroy any potential evidence that existed, and the damned Facility with it. But something changed, someone lied as they were want to do and now William was forced to oversee the team sent to the facility; and oversee he did, by way of a remote computer system set up in the dredges of the Raccoon city.

Unfortunately the facility hadn't kept up as well over time as the company hoped, and even as they sent men to clear out the 'remaining refuse' they begin to recount just how much they might be willing to spend to put it back to rights. Unfortunately for the company and Birkin both, the facility was proving to be more trouble than it was worth- claiming the lives of said team before they could make it even close to the heart of the lab complex. Old experiments left to rot proved too resilient to die and instead thrived in the empty building, now with free reign as the team breaching the lab allowed their escape. It was troubling to him, in all honesty that anything would be alive after so long- even with the virus permeating their systems they could not survive long without some form of substance, virus enhanced or not. Which really led him to believe that someone, or something in that lab had been keeping them going.

Or perhaps like a jar filled with bugs and left to sit, maybe the strong fed on the weak and this was why even their seasoned team fell to what was left in the training Facility. In any case, none of that mattered to Birkin as long as their secret's remained hidden. Which brought him to the reason he'd decided to take this trip into the long disused control room- an alert had made him aware of motion detected outside of the facility. With any luck it was simply some lost hunter- the human kind, or a hiker gone off the beaten path, in which case the nearby Spencer guards would do the trick in disposing of the intruders at his request.

* * *

Arklay Mountain Range, Unknown Tunnel

Darkness, thick black nothingness as far as the eye could see beyond my flashlight- well that and tunnel walls, but I didn't think they counted at the moment as they were my ever present companions. The moonlight from the entrance of the tunnel was fading gradually behind me as I moved deeper in, and I tried in vain to ignore every horror story about train tunnels I'd ever heard. There was just something about entering the maw of something when you couldn't see the end of it, and my fondness of the movie Stand By Me I had when I was a child wasn't helping either. I mean there were scarier movies out there, I was sure- but the train sequence kept playing over and over in my head, and it certainly wasn't helping.

Realistically, walking into a train tunnel when you couldn't see the end? That was a damn bad idea, but I figured getting hit by a train trumped being torn apart by wild animals any day. Particularly if said wild animal looked like some sort of cryptid- My money was on el chupacabra, but I wasn't really that much in the know about the cryptid's that were supposed to inhabit the Arklay, so realistically it could be anything. My knee ached as I stepped over the ties and I noted as I walked that the tracks were well taken care of, if not new.

Another few minutes went by before I swore that I could in fact see some sort of light, and I sped up my stumbling pace- hoping that I'd found something that might bring me closer to getting out of this damn mountain range. As I drew near I felt my hope shift to being perplexed as I began to get a good look at where exactly I'd ended up- a large underground train platform, or what might pass for one. It was empty save for a dim set of lights set into the ceiling, and two doorways. One on the left wall, and the other on the right.

The question was, were should I go from here? Going back wasn't feasible so left or right would be it and then what? The doors would in all likelihood lead only to closets, so how was I going to get around the thing outside? Maybe there was something in one of the service closest I could use, the left hand door was closer so logically I tried that one first. And somewhat predictably it was locked- I was almost insulted by this for some reason, I mean of course it was locked, but I couldn't help but think that it should have offered me something.

I felt cheated in a way but I didn't think I really could take the time to be to put out by it, I simply kicked the door and moved towards the other door. I gripped the knob fully expecting it to be locked too, but then my luck never was anything a normal person would consider 'good' and with a clank it opened slowly to a dark void beyond. The only thought that occured to me when I saw it was 'how odd', because for once I was only really expecting it to be a broom closet. Narnia? Could I hitch a ride home on the Jesus allegory lion please? No okay.

My flashlight hit a distant wall, and I heard the dripping of water somewhere beyond the door but oddly enough it was well lit- no brooms or mops but possibly a route to somewhere that might be safer. Maybe with a nice shower, and a phone to call my fiance? Oh I could dream, likely it was an access tunnel of some sort- but considering that the end of the tunnel was lit, it had to have its own power source. Even if it was just a power station in the middle of the woods, the likelihood that it had a phone at least was high.

I looked up, clicking my flashlight off I looked around and noted the wire housings and a small amount of water on the floor below- and I stepped in using my good leg to step down closing the door behind me. Looking to the left rewarded of with the sight of a grate set four feet up high in the wall- it was clearly meant for water flow like a storm drain, but there wasn't much water in it for the moment. Looking right rewarded me with the sight of a second opening further down, and a locked gate. I ventured forward, avoiding the walls as best I could as they were covered in slime and algae, moving to take a hard look at the gate.

There was nothing worth seeing beyond it- only more passageway and darkness, even if there were I would never be able to cut my way through chain keeping the gate closed. But with limited possibilities I still had options; the second passage I'd seen from the door was less that and more of a cubby to hide an access ladder. I heaved myself and my pack up the ladder slowly, feeling the weight and the tired muscles that really just wanted to stop and rest. A rebellious thought in my head screamed back that I could sleep when I was dead and I was rewarded with a small conk to my noggin for my trouble.

Of course there was a cover on the access tunnel- because that was just the way it was, but with a small push I was able to move the cover shoving it up on screeching hinges making a terrible racket as it clattered open. Light flooded the tunnel and it took me a moment to blink it away- pulling myself out into what seemed like another world I knelt on the ground, for a moment and simply absorbing everything around me.

White and black marble covered the floor in a beautiful checkerboard pattern, interrupted only by the worn seal woven into a tired worn rug in the center of the hall- it all looked strikingly familiar, and I swore that for the briefest moment I had been here before. Walls were covered in dark wooden paneling, occasionally broken up by old paintings that were covered in cobwebs. A staircase sat in the middle of the room leading up to a landing that split the staircase, and led off to the left and right to a second level. A large painting of a balding man sat on the wall above the landing, its paint was cracked and certain parts of the canvas were badly damaged by neglect and it gave me the chills- honestly the man in it looked like my mean old grandfather, he never raised his voice to me but he was a pill. Above that on the second level a large statue stood, and with all its proud glory the ceiling above sported a brilliant and bright fresco.

I went to push myself up but only managed to stagger, I was at the end of my rope honestly and I was entirely too tired to do more the prop myself up against something for a moment. Rummaging in the pockets near my waist pulling out a protein bar, and grabbing my water bottle. I chewed on my food woodenly, ignoring the taste or lack thereof and hoping that someone would pop out of one of the doorways near me and notice my existence. Maybe they would offer me a hot cocoa, and call the police or the park service.

This thought made me smile, and I closed my eyes it seemed just for a moment- but the second I reopened my eyes bright streaming sunlight made me wince. A blink and the world around me changed, I was at least feeling much more well rested. But there was a much more pressing problem that I needed to take care of, and I had no idea how I was going to do so. When nature calls, am I right? I unclipped my pack and slipped out of it, stretching my sore muscles as I looked around again.

Finally deciding that I might be able to get away with peeing where no one would look I took a quick trip down the ladder again, and relieved myself in a dark corner in the tunnel. The fact that no one found me while I was sleeping sat in my mind oddly- I could have wandered around and looked for a bathroom, but there was nagging feeling that there was something wrong. Someone should have found me, dead to the world as I was- the house was brightly lit even in the evening, and yet the walls, paintings and furniture I'd seen were covered in cobwebs.

I pulled myself up the ladder again and pulled out some more trail food for breakfast, it was a quiet meal and even after waking up I was feeling the drain of the day before. My knee ached even after rest, and I moved it a bit stretching the muscles hoping to work it out. It helped, but it was something that would need time to heal- time I wasn't sure I had. The only way to figure anything out would be to move around and find answers.

Or trying to at least find out where I was; Logically the first thing that came to mind was that this could be that so called 'Haunted' mansion that Umbrella had in the forest somewhere. Oh I would be that lucky now wouldn't I? I mean I was all for scary stories, and haunted happenings but I was totally not up for this now. I was just hoping that this place might have a phone that worked somewhere in this place, I mean there had to be something somewhere. If all else failed I could always find the road out of this place, even as abandoned as it was the road was supposedly well kept- you know the local teenagers and all that jazz.

I moved to check the door I was nearest to, a set of double doors made of carved dark wood with gold handles- I gave them a push and was immediately hit by a foul stench that made my nose curl and my stomach clench. There was something about it- I knew this smell, as terrible as it was and I took a step into the room looking around quietly. My hands still holding the doors, and I paused at what I saw.

A dining room that almost looked like a fancy restaurant, dishes were strewn across the remaining tables unbroken but dusty. A candelabrum sat in the middle of one table still lit, and I wondered at this as I moved into the room further- This is when everything changed.

I'd heard the noise before, but dismissed it- it was to regular to be anything to worry about honestly, that was something you learned when you hiked. Erratic noises were made by something, generally and regular noises tended to be part of the landscape- you tune them out, everybody does. That's how we adapt, we learn to look for the irregular and are hard wired to be wary of it. This is a mistake, because even things that seem normal might when you pay attention prove to be something to fear.

The noise I had dismissed, that I'd heard initially last night was the sound of something hitting a wall, softly- not like a hard surface hitting another, but the soft sound of flesh hitting something solid. The scrape of hands against a wall as something- or someone attempted to pull itself through an order window set into it. The thing seemed to be doing this at first for no reason, and yet when it saw me it seemed to finally find something to fight for in life. If you could call it life, because I was fairly certain that even if it was at one point alive, its blue green lifeless face said otherwise.

I stepped back out of the room and closed the door, blinking and trying very hard to process what I'd seen. I pushed the door open again and looked at the thing again, feeling myself pale as I took in the sight once more. Stepping out I closed the door again. He was dead, he had to be dead but he was still moving. It was a he, he was wearing military like fatigues. He was definitely dead, but he was also definitely still moving. I let go of the door handle, hands dropping to my waist, and I unclipped my belt pulling it out and tying it around the door handles.

Nope, that was a whole lot of nope.

Zombies. Zombies aren't real, they were the things of horror movies, and not even the good ones really. I mean zombies are slow, easily avoided, like the B-movie things that people use when nobody wants to do vampires or ghosts anymore. Dangerous in numbers, but easily avoided on their own. I shuddered as the sound of something hitting the floor broke me from frozen state. The sound of a body hitting the floor, that was the noise- that was what I was heard.

I shook my head and moved away from the door, never breaking the stare I directed at the door even as I moved to sit down on one of the many chairs in the room.

* * *

I wasn't really certain how long I sat there trying to make sense of what I'd seen, trying to fit the pieces together- but it was long enough for the thing in question to get tired of pushing against the door and move to do whatever it was that zombies did when they weren't menacing the woodwork. From the sound of it- he was pacing, but I was far from really caring about that at the moment. Realistically the only thing breaking me out of this realm of denial was my stomach, and the fact that I may find something or someone beyond other doorways.

In the end I stood and did my best to push any speculation to the back of my mind; the bottom floor had at least three different doors, one on the other side of the room and one directly in what I guessed was the front of the room. It looked like a front door, and I decided that I was going to get the hell out of here if I had the chance. Grabbing my pack I slung it across my back clipped it into place and moved towards the door with a purpose. A thick pair of metal things that seemed intimidating even from across the room, I gripped the handle and pushed much like one would push the door of a shop anyone expects to be open.

It rattled but didn't open- I pulled with the same result and I simply paused, staring at the door again. It was locked, the front door was locked. This thought echoed in my head over and over again so I took a breath before turning moving towards the next door, the third on the first floor. I was feeling like I'd somehow entered the twilight zone, and yet I wasn't reacting- I couldn't react I needed to keep moving on wards. I needed to keep moving, and without further ado I stepped beyond the door into yet another hallway. It turned to the right and I followed it to quickly to think about it, turning left I paused at the first door in the hallway I'd seen.

It was a bathroom, and barring any sudden back doors in the bathroom I wasn't going to find anything there. I closed the door, and stomped on down the hallway turning at the next turn before coming to the end of the hallway and the only other door. I vicious twist of the knob rewarded me with another open door and I looked into this room to find something that looked much like a classroom. There was really nothing much to it, and I searched for something- anything to lift this feeling of panic building in my chest even as I felt my knees give out.

I collapsed on the ground pulling my knees up to my face I let out a horrid wail that was smothered by knees and felt the panic attack I'd been staving off finally begin to take hold.

* * *

A/N: So thanks all for reading this far, If you have any suggestions feel free to drop them in the review box. I'm a long time fandom haunt, so I like you by extension already, no fear there.


	2. Chapter 2: Looking

A/N: This chapter is a bit on the short side, but I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 **Penumbra**

 **Chapter One: Looking**

 **By Tamuril Telrunye**

* * *

 _I am the blank page before you_

 _I am fine idea you crave_

 _I live and breath under the moon_

 _And when you cross the bridge I'll come find you_

 _Stay Awake, London Grammar_

Training Facility, Evening July 14th 1998

When the shakes finally subsided and I was finally in a state fit think, and that only came after I'd exhausted myself of course- I found myself curled up in the corner of the room, I'd probably crawled my way here without really meaning too. But when all you could think about was the fact that you were afraid of everything around you- well you did things instinctively. I'd never had a panic attack outside of ironically- the safety of my own home, and usually Red was there to help me with them.

That though made me clutch at my pants and worry, for my friends this time more than myself, and for my overprotective fiance as well, because like as not the man would scour the entire Arkay mountain range when he realized I was missing. He was the biggest momma-bird I'd ever met, and really considering the small town I came from it wasn't hard- but he'd been doing it as long as we'd known each other. So I already knew what to expect when the shit hit the fan with him.

I say as long as we'd known each other, but realistically I could say 'all our lives' and it would mean the same thing. We grew up together, I mean two redheaded kids that were the same age in the same small neighborhood? Who wouldn't be thick as thieves.

This thought was enough to lift my spirits a bit, and I finally managed to look around again taking in the room around me. Chairs, a projector- like a college presentation room really, all it was missing was some boring lecture material and a slack jawed audience. Okay that was being a bit mean, but it looked more like the community college sort of lecture room and less like the Hall of the four year institution I'd been considering going to for awhile.

Again it was opulent- like something from a 1960's movie with worn velvet covering the seat cushions (Unpractical) and a thick layer of dusty on the ornate rug. Papers were strewn about in certain areas, and it looked for all the world like it had simply been left the way it was after class let out. Abandoned without a second thought- now that was eerie wasn't it? I had no doubt in my mind that- err the gentleman I'd encountered before was perhaps part of the reason. I had so many questions, and no answers.

Where did I even start; Where did I begin to unravel this gordian knot nightmare that my life was at the moment? And the portion of me that was already waiting to pick up the pieces spoke from the recesses of my mind, a sarcastic portion of my mind if ever there was one. You begin at the beginning, the basics if you will; food, shelter, and safety, focus on that and you could push yourself up and keep going.

Food, I had some leftover trail rations but not a lot- when it came to packing for a hike, you packed light as a rule, extra food never hurt. But we were already at the tail end of our journey when we got separated, I had some maybe a week's worth if I stretched it, and this meant really stretching it. Water was next, I didn't really recall how long someone could go without officially- it depended on how healthy a person was and so on, a general rule for things was the threes. Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food- of course that was pushing it to the limit for the average person, but I wasn't going to allow it to get to that point.

I could hike to Raccoon in less than a week- if I had any clue about where I was to begin with. I couldn't be too much further than I had been the day before, half a day maybe if I was really moving at a good clip- but I really hadn't been. No I wasn't far from town, but figuring out where I was and where the city was in relation was bound to be fun. I could always walk along the tracks- liked I'd been doing before I'd run into that thing. But I didn't relish the idea of running into it or anything else that might be out there.

I took a breath and refocused my line of thought, water- likely in a place water would be in any home, I just had to check. I could do that right now in fact. I ditched my pack in a chair and moved towards a door gripping my old sturdy mag light like a bat, as far as things went it really was my only form of weaponry. Ben carried an old hand axe for protection, and realistically in all of our years of hiking we hadn't needed to use it more than once- and that was more of a human deterrent than an animal one.

This time I paid attention to my surrounding as I move out of the brightly painted door, noting the double hinged windows that could open into the darkness beyond. I would have to take a good look outside once it was light out, but for now I would stick with the interior. I turned and made my way back to the bathroom, opening the door more quietly this time and stepping in. Crack worn tile met my gaze, and the general state of the place made me think that it had fared worse in its neglected then the other rooms I'd seen.

I tried the first tap I found, and was rewarded a stream of old rusty water- so I let it run for a bit before it came out clean. No telling what was actually in the water, but I had a hiking filter to clear it out later. Two things out of the way, for now- I might be able to find more food in the kitchen maybe, but that meant finding a way around the um problem. I paused for a moment thinking, I'd looked into every door on the first floor but maybe there was more on the second worth investigating.

After some consideration I decided to put off anymore exploration until morning, I was too tired to focus properly and I had a feeling that running around here was going to be exhausting. With that in mind chose to just take over the classroom looking place, shoving the old worn chairs into a corner and making space I managed to unroll my sleeping bag. I took a moment to cover up the projectors light before shoving a chair underneath the door handle, and plopping down on my sleeping bag again.

I was tired physically, but mentally? Well that was another story entirely, I looked towards an old black journal I'd found after accidentally bumping into the projectors table too hard. It had obviously seen better days, it was worn and dusty but to cover itself was straight and it was drawing out my curiosity like nothing else so I cracked open the cover and settled in.

 _"When I first visited that place, I was 18 years old and it was summer. That was 20 years ago. I still remember the smell when the helicopter landed and the rotor caused the wind to stir. From the air, the mansion seemed normal but from ground, something was different…"_

* * *

Sunlight, vicious and unforgiving was the thing to pull me from my exhausted state and I grimaced noting that perhaps I'd stayed up to long reading this odd bit of not quite sci fi- or at least that was what the journal sounded like. I pushed the book off my chest with a 'thump' getting a good stretch in before pushing myself up and taking in my surroundings. Same chairs and projector, same dust only slightly more disturbed, same black white screen on one wall.

I pulled out more trail food, wishing fervently that I had something with a lot more meat and a little less nut. Protein was important, but I wanted a hot meal damnit. With that I moved out of the room and into the hallway carrying my toothbrush and other toiletries, I would feel much better once I scoured the scum off my teeth. I would kill for a real life shower right now, but none of the shower stalls that sat in the back of this place looked even slightly appealing. Really, I mean they looked like I might get tetanus from standing too near them.

Right I was overthinking things again, a spit bath helped and I was feeling relatively human as I moved out of the bathroom pausing by the double paned windows with a thought. The front door might be bust, but I could always find another way around the problem now couldn't I? Came a clever thought as I looked at them and reached for the latch, with a bit of tough love I managed to wrench them open and fresh air blew in making the terrible rancid smell I'd been ignoring waft away nicely.

The air had that green smell too it, like pine trees and growing things- it's hard to explain to someone who has never been out in nature. I peered outside noting that there was a walkway and I being the adventurous soul that I was moved to climb out onto it. Fine pale stones lined the walkway in an intricately cut pattern, and it was well hedged in by a spiked metal railing taller than I was as the path lead forward. Or at least it seemed to be leading towards the front of the building, which was what I was fervently hoping for.

I jogged towards the corner of the house smile flitting across my face, throwing a hand up as I came around it into the full light of the sun blinded for a moment, I paused before lowering my hand again as my sight came back. And like that my good mood was gone, even as I stumbled forward uncertain of what I was seeing and I looked around perplexed. The front door if it could be opened, would open onto a walkway that I was currently on and that walkway led to nowhere- and I didn't mean like a forest clearing nowhere, I mean it ended in a sudden drop off where there should have been a driveway or something.

Like an earthquake had come out of nowhere and taken the road with it- this was both really weird and highly unlikely, but there was no helping it. I moved towards it, staying a safe distance from the edge- how far is far enough to be safe honestly? At this point I was beyond getting upset about this sudden sort of 'fuck you' that life seemed to be giving me- I mean getting lost while hiking is usually enough to get someone killed. I wasn't sure what to think about this- call it some extended form of shock, maybe I'm not certain about technical terms.

What I did know was that I wasn't going to let it stop me; I was going home but I was going to have to be very smart, and very careful about it. The dog thing that had chased me before; there was no doubt in my mind that it wasn't alone. Why you might ask? Because chances were very slim that it was the same one that Ben, Ell and I happened across earlier today- not unless it was tracking me, which was both more and less concerning in different ways.

Turning I looked back at the building I came from, somehow noting for the first time that it was a large and intimidating mansion. While I hadn't found the easy way home I had been hoping for, I had found a place that I could ransack for supplies. There had to be some sort of weapon in here somewhere, and I was not going to stop until I found it. I was not dying in the middle of nowhere- no way, no how.

* * *

 _A Midwestern town in America: Raccoon City._

 _A solitary Island Far off in the sea: Rock Fort Island._

 _An island that would become a second Raccoon city: Sheena Island._

 _There are still many unanswered questions about these seemingly unrelated yet intensely traumatic events._

 _Though it is believed that the international enterprise, Umbrella was somehow involved, little is known about the origin of this faceless corporation._

 _When was it established?_

 _By whom?_

 _And how was the T-virus created?_

 _To uncover the truth, we must delve deeper into the events which transpired in the beginning- before the mansion incident._

July 21st, 1998

For Rebecca it began as a simple investigation into a bizarre series of murders in the suburbs of Raccoon city; but as the aforementioned woman thought as she walked toward the train in the darkness gun and flashlight at the ready, no training was really enough to prepare anyone for freak accidents that led to even stranger situations. No one thought that Bravo team being dispatched to investigate an old mansion in Raccoon forest would end in a crash, and the hunt for a convicted felon.

Their pilot wasn't sure if it was engine failure, or lightening- but considering the result it really didn't matter all that much as this point. Really, they were lucky that they managed to escape relatively unscathed- it was only chance that led them to be separated now, she had to wonder if she'd never spotted the overturned truck in the darkness, would the have still gone separate ways? Or would they have moved on to investigate the mansion and done so anyways. She wasn't sure, but what Rebecca did know was that she was currently creeping through the underbrush in the darkness of the night on her own, moving towards a very suspiciously stopped train on a set of tracks not far from their landing point.

Should she radio Enrico, or investigate? Caution said that she should radio, but if she did so and nothing was really amiss with the situation-well it would be another thing to prove that she was really a rookie here. A quick look around wouldn't really go amiss, would it? The final push came as a small drop of water struck her squarely on the nose, followed soon by a second that hit her in the head and then a small tournament that soon pushed her towards the train car- for temporary shelter if nothing else.

Enter the nightmare, safety is behind. There is no going back.

* * *

A/N: So that the end of this chapter, we'll be hopping into the actual game material from now on. Dates in the fic are supplied purely from memory, as finding them online is the pits. I would play the game again to be sure, but the only version I have that I could play requires a controller that I dont have, so bleh.


End file.
